Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumHow Tesla Motors Inc’s electric car batteries are adding to China’s pollution woes
As more environmentally conscious Americans do their bit to help clear the air by paying up for an eco-friendly Prius or a sporty Tesla, a damaging form of polluted rain is falling in China.
The link is graphite, a vital component in batteries used in Teslas Model S, Toyotas plug-in Prius and other electric cars, as well as in electronic gadgets including iPhones. Its mostly mined and processed in China where graphite pollution has fouled air and water, damaged crops and raised health concerns. Now, in response, Chinese authorities are closing dozens of graphite mines and processors in a bid for cleaner air even as global demand for the commodity is surging.
Theres little question that the Chinese are between a rock and a hard place environmentally, said Josh Landess, an advanced transportation analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Theres an obvious irony that the disruption its causing is within the clean vehicle and transportation industry.
The graphite outcry is the latest among environmental flashpoints in China that have ranged from lead poisoning to acid spills and unbearable smog in big cities. And while the clampdown may help improve the quality of Chinas environment, it could also affect as much as a third of worldwide production.
Oops!
![](du4img/smicon-reply-new.gif)
phantom power
(25,966 posts)GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)Of course you're right!
kristopher
(29,798 posts)![](http://www.ontariographite.com/i/misc/chart1.gif)
![](http://www.ontariographite.com/i/misc/chart2.gif)
Graphs courtesy of
![](http://www.ontariographite.com/i/common/logo.png)
in honor of our Canadian contributor
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)phantom power
(25,966 posts)NickB79
(19,253 posts)He was, after all, the man quoted in the OP's article.
http://www.nexindex.com/landess.php
I mean, look at that resume of fake environmental concern!
kristopher
(29,798 posts)When the truth doesn't support the story, it's hard to make the case that the story is right because the author claims to be green.
Maybe he is shorting Tesla. There seems to be a wave of negative stories lately in the financial papers - like the one in the OP. And there is at least one poster who admits selling them short who is running around DU using every opportunity to talk the stock down.
Look at the freaking distribution of the resource and compare that to numberless, unsubstantiated claims made in the OP.
The only people who buy into that kind of crap are people with a preexisting bias against the move to a renewable energy system: the likes of Roger Ailes, the Koch brothers, the coal industry and the nuclear industry serve as exemplars of that group.